The world is in a state of shock. COVID-19 spread as quickly
as it started and doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon. Countries around
the globe have instituted statewide (or even nationwide) quarantines and
lockdowns, affecting every single industry – from healthcare to fitness to food.

The retail landscape is changing drastically, and not just
for brick-and-mortar stores but for the entire eCommerce industry as well.

Below are a few trends I’ve been seeing across various industries.

TOUGH TIMES FOR THE FOOD INDUSTRY

I live in California where the “shelter in place” order
started mid-March. Since then, we’ve only been permitted to leave our homes for
errands considered “essential” (or if our jobs were in one of the essential
businesses). One industry I’m seeing being hit particularly hard is the food
industry. Restaurants are either closed or only able to offer curbside pick-up.
Bars are completely closed. Grocery stores seem to be out of stock of many items
most of the time.

I think the food industry is actually being very creative in
their tactics. I’m seeing restaurants selling food boxes stocked with
perishables. Since they now can’t sell enough of their food stock and don’t
want it to go bad, they are offering it to local residents. And a local Mexican
restaurant is even going so far as selling margaritas for curbside pick-up.

But the long-term question is, with the world having to switch from physical to digital overnight, where will the food industry be once people can leave their homes again?

DISRUPTIONS IN ECOMMERCE

Ever since the shelter-in-place orders were put in motion, online
giants like Amazon have been inundated with orders. But the result is that
they’ve been sold out of many essentials. I tried to buy some hair products – certainly
non-essential – and the earliest they were available for shipping was more than
a month away. As a result, I switched to shopping directly on the various brands’
websites themselves.

So we’re seeing something interesting: Brands that
previously may have relied on Amazon for a large portion of their sales (or
even tried to compete with them) have instead had to rely on their own
eCommerce infrastructure to keep sales flowing.

And that’s without even mentioning the brick-and-mortar retailers that have had to switch entirely to a digital-only model to survive. These are momentous changes.

FITNESS INDUSTRY GOES “PHYGITAL”

The fitness industry is an interesting case, as so many
companies have been blending workout equipment with digitally streaming of
classes for years now – a blending of the physical and digital known as “phygital.”

But with physical gyms being forced to close, every fitness company
now has had to innovate. CorePower Yoga is one example. Previously, the charged
$160/month for unlimited classes but now they offer a digital model at $19.99/month
so members can keep attending classes while at home.

My prediction: Even when we eliminate COVID-19 and can go out again, these studios will continue offering virtual classes. It just makes good sense to maintain this virtual option.

BE PREPARED

There’s still so much uncertainty around COVID-19. How long
will it last? When will things return to normal? And when they do what will the
new normal even be?

All I can say is this: It’s more clear than ever that we
live in a world where literally every business is going digital. And we all need
to be prepared.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rita Das joined CoreMedia in 2019 and is a detail-oriented marketing director leading the company's Americas Marketing. Rita started her career in Chicago managing a small, family owned confectionary company while working towards her bachelors degree in communications from University of Illinois in Chicago. Since then, she has worked at multiple startups as well as fortune 500 companies, including SAP. Rita lives in the Bay Area with her fiancé, two cats and a dog.